DAY 3: Oasis Roadhouse to Greenvale

54.5 km ridden today
322.5 km ridden so far
2427 km estimated to go
328 m up
427 m down
1661 calories
3/10 pain factor
Something I NEED to know today, what are these birds? (see below)

As you would imagine, I slept like a boss last night. While I felt good in the morning, after musing on it I thought I’d just get to Greenvale today (54 km up the road) to take a rest after yesterdays big one and in anticipation of 200km of SFA after that until Charters Towers.

Wind was generally a head wind (which will slow down in the next few days), but it wasn’t getting me cranky. And I was aware that the prevailing winds for Northern Queensland at this time of the year are generally S to SE. I could have ridden in the other direction but motivation wise, I felt more compelled to ride to get home than ride away from home. Winds are around 10-15km/h an hour so it kind of not a bad aircon. Anything north of 20 and I would be getting cranky. Breakfast was leftover pasta. The Oasis claims to be the smallest pub in Australia. Not sure you can call it that. It basically had an outdoor area and the “beer” was just in a coke fridge behind the counter. Great Northern or Great Northern. Take your pick.

A nice little reminder of what lies ahead. I have a thing for distance signs. You will see a lot more of them. Deal with it. So just after the Oasis the road splits in two. I verge left onto the “Gregory Development Way”. It is basically a highway, but being better developed over the years as it is critical infrastructure for Inland QLD. I have seen photos of what it was like before and I have no doubt I will come across it. It will be my home for the next 750km where it terminates at Springsure.

So for this ride 50 odd kms is not too hard. And it wasn’t. Some undulations. A couple of road trains and heaps of dual cabs and Landcruiser work vehicles. Normal cars/SUVs are rare in these parts. I tried to get off the road most of the time but the distant visibility is so long vehicles have already moved to the other side of the road well before they get to me. I’d wave as people went by, sometimes getting a friendly toot toot once they were past (I also make a point to give a thumbs up if I am stopped).

An update on Ben’s stinky sock. I call this the stinky sock road kill shot.

Greenvale was a very tiny place in a very big state. I found the cheap cheap donger accommodation. Alas, these dongers had not seen any action in a long time. Overgrown and lifeless. I wanted a good sleep for the night before my likely camp tomorrow night so I went with the motel (basic and cheap). While having a drink and feed these little buggers showed up. They were very aggressive and happly came up to 10-20cm of me. What are they?

Here was my room at Greenvale. Am I weird that I find a budget motel with painted cinder block walls in a peaceful TINY village in the middle of nowhere as enjoyable as a 4 or 5 star hotel in one of our capital cities?

The afternoon in Greenvale was spent planning for the days ahead. So I have 200km of nothingness until Charters Towers. I am going to start very early tomorrow (by my standards) and give myself the two options. 1: Stop mid way 2: Gun it for Charters Towers. The latter is just an off chance. I called ahead for a motel in Charters Towers for two nights time. I explained my situation and thankfully the motel I contacted, the owner was live in and said he could accommodate me late if I pull off the 200km. On the likely scenario of camping, I will try and get at least 120km in the first day to make the second easier.

And for those that like camping/remote style travelling, Wikicamps is your friend. $10 for perpetual access. It also has an offline mode that caches the content if you are not in signal. Nonetheless, I saved comments on my phone just in case. Here is my scrawling to show what little there is between here at Charters Towers:

10km – Rest area
17.7km – Gravel pit (large)
23.9km – Rest Area
33.2km – Gravel pit
42.4km – rest area
52.2km – Mt Fox turnoff (Clark river shortly after)
59km – Gravel pit (Crooked River)
61.5km – Gravel pit
71.1km – Campground
74.6km – Gravel Camp ground (Telstra reception)
72.9km – Layover gravel pit
81.8 km – Fresh farm eggs (possible water?)
83.3km – Bluewater springs (closed, but possible water?)
84.9 – Ewan Races (possible water)
101.7km – Harvey Range R/pullover bay
121.5km- Rest Area with toilets (non potable water)
144.7 – Fletcher Creek/Leichhart Rd CAMPGROUND (Telstra reception).
144.7 – Very close to Burdekin River
151.4 – Toilets
161.9 – Heavy Vehicle Parking
167.1 – Anabranch Campground (possible mobile coverage)

Water. So I am getting a feel for my water intake. Looks like it is about 2 litres per 50km or so. I am planning on not coming across any for the whole 200km (though those very healthy flowing rivers are tempting). EPIC FAIL 4: I forgot the purification tablets. That will be my first buy in Charters Towers as there is another big stretch of SFA to Emerald. I am going to be carrying about 12 litres of water, plus 2 litres of Powerade. I have lots of food. Also, one of my learnings in the NZ cycle was the brew of honey and salt. It’s like Hobbit Lambas break. So I bought both to mix with water to keep the sugars and salts up as well.

Lastly, I have decided to introduce my “song of the day”. Today was pretty chilled and so is this epically cool song by The Muppets from way back when (ironically I did correctly turn left at the fork in the road just after The Oasis Roadhouse.

See you in Charters Towers!